Disposal of radioactive and hazardous wastes has become more costly as environmental regulations limit disposal options. It is recognized that waste reduction and packaging can be combined as has been done for "in-can" melters. However, "in-can" melters are specifically used for non-combustible waste and exhibit dis-economies of scale in terms of equipment and operation costs.
In-can melters described in In-Can Melting Process and Equipment Development From 1974 to 1978, PNL-2925, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash., are operated by filling a canister with solid non-combustible wastes, then placing a clamshell shaped heating unit around the canister. The canister is heated to a temperature that melts the solid wastes. More wastes may be added to fill the canister. In order to fill a large number of canisters, either many clamshell heaters are needed (high equipment cost) for parallel filling of canisters, or many man-years of labor are needed (high operation cost) for serial filling of canisters. In addition, the heating and cooling of a relatively small clamshell heater results in significant heat losses, further exacerbating the operational costs.
Not until the present invention has there been the possibility of in-can waste reduction and packaging with parallel high throughput and modest equipment cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an in-can waste reduction method and apparatus using in-can combustion of the waste.